Elisabeth Elliot: I just want to point out the fact that the Bible speaks of three different kinds of spiritual music--psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. I consider it a very great loss that many churches today only use the last one in that list.

Lisa Barry: I'm sure there are as many different musical tastes represented by our listeners as there are people. But one thing that popular Christian music often lacks is deep theology. Elisabeth Elliot believes that hymns provide clear, easy to remember lessons that make the Bible easier to understand. Let's find out more as Elisabeth begins this week of talks called "Growing in Christ." That's next on Gateway To Joy.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love" (Jer. 31:3). That's what the Bible says, "and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:7). This is your friend, Elisabeth Elliot, talking today about "Growing in Christ." All during this week I will be talking about things, which I think, pertain very specifically to families, to growing up in Christ, and I hope that it will be helpful to both fathers and mothers or prospective fathers and mothers.

First of all, I want to tell you how important the learning of hymns and the reading of the Bible and family prayer meant in my life. It would be impossible for me to overestimate the value of those three things. We had a father who got up early in the morning, usually between 4:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., and went alone to his little study and was there until breakfast time. We knew that when we came to breakfast, our father had been in prayer for us. He told me later on in life that he prayed for his children, each one of them by name, at least four times a day. He prayed for us in the morning there in that tiny little study. He prayed with us after breakfast. He prayed for us again during his lunch hour when he was eating his sandwich in his office. And he prayed with us following dinner in the evening.

The morning prayer time, which followed our breakfast, was at 7:00 a.m.; and there could be no fluctuation as to the time because my father had to catch a commuter train. Commuter trains in those days ran exactly on the minute so there wasn't any flexibility as to when we could have breakfast. We were expected to appear at 7:00 a.m., not at 7:01 a.m. My father was a stickler for punctuality, because he pointed out to us, "When you're late for things, you are stealing other people's most valuable possession." So we would have to be up and clothed and in our right minds at breakfast by 7:00 a.m.

Usually by 7:20 a.m. or so, we would all go into the living room where either my mother or my father sat down and played the piano. We would sing one hymn per day. We would not skip the stanzas. We would just sing one hymn. We learned probably, well, certainly at least dozens, maybe hundreds, of hymns by heart. When my four brothers and my sister and I get together, which is certainly not very often, maybe every two or three years, we do two things at least. These are the two things probably that take the most time. We talk about our parents and give thanks so much for what they did for us. The older we get, the more we appreciate the kind of home in which we grew up.

The other thing we do is to sing. We sing these old hymns and we sing in parts. All of us are singers. Usually, when people tell me that they can't sing I think it's probably because they just didn't sing at home as we did because we're not great singers by any means. But we make a joyful noise to the Lord (Psa. 100:1). It says in Ephesians 5:19, "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I just want to point out the fact that the Bible speaks of three different kinds of spiritual music--psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. I consider it a very great loss that many churches today only use the last one in that list. They don't sing the psalms. They don't know any hymns. Hymns are the sort of music that has four or six or sometimes ten stanzas. Each stanza leads to the next. If you skip one stanza, then you destroy the continuity of the author's purpose.

But I do want to encourage you and urge you to do whatever you can to institute the singing of hymns. The wonderful thing about them is that they will get you through the night. It's one thing to sing a praise chorus, and I have nothing against those spiritual songs. Maybe I should say I have one thing, which I don't want to say I'm against it, but it seems to be rather pointless to sing the same short spiritual song four or five or sometimes ten times. Wouldn't it be better to sing a hymn that has three or four or six stanzas and learn theology? That's what we did. We learned theology really quite painlessly because we learned the great hymns.

In my little notebook, I have a list of about fifty of my favorite hymns. Every one of them, I think, I know all the stanzas. It has been in the darkest times of my life and the deepest valleys and the hottest fires that these hymns have helped me. I was very heartened to receive a letter from a homeschooling family who has been teaching the children to sing. They memorized the hymn, "May Jesus Christ Be Praised." It begins with the words, "When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, May Jesus Christ be praised!" The children had learned the words and the music. Then they wrote their own hymns with the same meter.

Timothy, who is seven years old, wrote, "I know who fills my table; I trust that He is able. May Jesus Christ be praised! I know who made this day, and that is why I say, May Jesus Christ be praised! When scary thoughts are mine, on Him I will recline. May Jesus Christ be praised! When lying on my bed, I will not fear or dread. May Jesus Christ be praised!" Seven years old.

His sister Sarah is nine. She wrote, "We pray daily to Thee, Christ Jesus, King we'll see. May Jesus Christ be praised! And when the heavens open that we may see His face, may Jesus Christ be praised! O glory to our God, Savior, Immanuel, may Jesus Christ be praised! You made the trees, the skies, the waters, all that flies. May Jesus Christ be praised!"

And then Andrew, whose age they didn't give me; but I guess it's somewhere between Sarah who is nine and Maria who is sixteen. Andrew wrote, "The stars of heaven sing; sing praises to the King. May Jesus Christ be praised! Let Hades shake a heap, so much that we might weep. Let Jesus Christ be praised!"

And sixteen-year-old Maria: "When darkness comes my way, I need not wait till day. May Jesus Christ be praised! He is my hope and light; in Him all things are bright. May Jesus Christ be praised! When all my world seems dim, I just will turn to Him. May Jesus Christ be praised! In Him I find my strength; in Him I sleep and wake. May Jesus Christ be praised! The trees declare His praise; to Him the branches raise. May Jesus Christ be praised! The flowers bloom so bright and show the heavenly light. May Jesus Christ be praised!"

If we're going to grow up in Christ, hymns and family devotions and prayer time are a solid foundation. One thing that may happen in your family, if you love animals as I do, is that one of them may die.

A twelve-year-old boy in one of George MacDonald's books loses his mare.

The boy says to an older man, "But I will never see her again," sobbing.

"Who says such a thing, laddie?"

"Everybody," answered the boy, a good deal astonished at the question.

And the older man says, "That a thing can love and be loved, and that's your bonny little mare, is just the same as saying that it's immortal, for God is love. Whatever partakes of the essence of God cannot die, but must go on living till it pleases Him to say stop, and that He will never say."

The possible entrance of the little mare into an enlarged existence widened the whole heaven of the boy's conscious being. The wellspring of personal life within him seemed to rush forth in mighty volume. Through that grief and its consolation, the boy made a great stride towards manhood. I love that little bit from George MacDonald.

Please don't write a whole lot of letters to Gateway To Joy saying, "What kind of heresy is this that Elisabeth Elliot is propagating when she's saying that all the animals are going to be in heaven?" I'm not saying that. I'm just extrapolating a few tiny hints that it could possibly be true.

If you read The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis and the Narnia books, you might agree with me. If you stop to ponder that the Bible says, "Everything that hath breath shall praise the Lord" (Psa. 150:6), you may be inclined to at least contemplate the possibility that this twelve-year-old boy's beloved mare might actually be seen again sometime. God made the creatures. He loves them. Who knows what God may do?

Somebody wrote me this poem:

I wonder if Jesus had a sweet little dog,
All shaggy and scruffy like mine,
With two soft little ears and a nose black and wet
And eyes brown and tender that shine.
I'm sure if He had, that this little dog
Knew right from the start He [Jesus] was God;
That he asked no proof if Jesus were divine,
But worshiped the ground where He trod.

I'll read you the rest of that tomorrow.

Lisa Barry: And I hope each of you will be back again on Tuesday for that. You know this is a very important series for Gateway To Joy and the reason is that your spiritual growth is important. Some day we will stand before God and have to give an account for what we have done. That's why we mention resources at the end of each program. Because we know that what you hear on Gateway To Joy is an important starting point, but what you do after you turn off the radio will determine whether or not your life is truly changed. We hope you'll take comfort in that. Gateway To Joy exists to equip women with the tools they need to live in the center of God's will.

If that's a goal that is important to you too, then we hope that you will discover that you hold the tools we need, too. Your prayer support makes all of this radio stuff happen each day. If you would like to send a letter of support, you can send it to Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. That's Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. Or call toll-free: 1-800-759-4JOY. That's 1-800-759-4569. Or you can find us on the Internet at gatewaytojoy.org. Gateway To Joy is a listener-supported production of Back to the Bible.

Tomorrow Elisabeth talks about the pain of losing a pet. Find out more the next time we meet for Gateway To Joy.